Congress to Trump: Cancel Putin summit after new Mueller indictments

Carlos Barria/Reuters

Some in Congress are calling on President Donald Trump to cancel his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin after new indictments were announced in relation to the Mueller probe.

• Several members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are calling on President Donald Trump to consider canceling his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• The calls came after new indictments were announced in the special counsel probe on Friday.
• "If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward," Sen. John McCain said. 
• White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday said the summit was still moving forward and there were no plans to cancel it. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Friday called on President Donald Trump to consider canceling his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland after new indictments in the special counsel probe headed by Robert Mueller.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictments of 12 Russian intelligence officers in connection with the hacking of Democratic Party institutions and Hillary Clinton's campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

In the wake of the indictments, Republican Sen. John McCain said Trump "must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world."

"If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward," he added.

Similarly, Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Trump should cancel the meeting and that it should not be in a one-on-one setting.

"If the President won't make Russia's attack on our election the #1 issue at the summit, then it should be canceled," Warner said. 

Other Democratic members of Congress, including Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Tammy Duckworth, issued similar statements.  

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday said the summit was still moving forward and there were no plans to cancel it. The White House didn't respond to a request for further comment on whether Trump would address the indictments when he meets with Putin. 

Earlier Friday, Trump said he would question Putin about Russian election meddling when the two meet in Helsinki.

But Trump also referred to the Mueller probe as "rigged" and a "witch hunt" on Friday, despite being briefed by Rosenstein on the developments earlier in the week.